South African Names - Behind the Name

Amahle m & f Zulu
Means "the beautiful ones" in Zulu.

Andile m & f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "they have increased" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele.

Ayanda m & f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "they are increasing" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele.

Bandile m & f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "they have increased" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele.

Banele m & f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swazi
Means "it is enough" in Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi.

Bongani m Zulu
Means "grateful, thankful" in Zulu.

Bonolo f Sotho
Means "ease" in Sotho.

Braam m Afrikaans
Afrikaans short form of Abraham.

Buhle f & m Xhosa, Ndebele
From Xhosa and Ndebele buhle "beautiful, handsome", from the root hle.

Charlize f Afrikaans
Feminine form of Charles using the popular Afrikaans name suffix ize. This name was popularized by South African actress Charlize Theron (1975-), who was named after her father Charles.

Chrizanne f Afrikaans
Combination of Christine and Anne 1 used in South Africa.

Dumi m Zulu, Ndebele
Short form of Dumisani.

Dumisani m Zulu, Ndebele
Means "praise" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Enzokuhle m & f Zulu, Xhosa
Means "to do good" in Zulu and Xhosa, from the roots enza "to do" and hle "beautiful, good".

Gugulethu f Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele
From Xhosa, Zulu and Ndebele igugu "treasure, pride" and lethu "our".

Hlengiwe f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swazi
Means "helped, rescued, redeemed" in Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi.

Iminathi f Zulu
Means "he stands with us" in Zulu.

Kabelo m Sotho, Tswana
Means "allotment, share, gift" in Sotho and Tswana.

Karabo m & f Sotho, Tswana
Means "answer" in Sotho and Tswana.

Katleho m & f Sotho
Means "success, prosperity" in Sotho.

Lebohang m & f Sotho
Means "be thankful" in Sotho.

Lerato f & m Sotho
Means "love" in Sotho.

Lethabo m & f Sotho, Tswana
Means "joy, happiness" in Sotho and Tswana.

Lethokuhle f & m Xhosa, Zulu
Means "bring goodness" in Zulu and Xhosa, from the roots letha "to bring" and hle "beautiful, good".

Lindiwe f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swazi
Means "waited for, awaited" in Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi, from linda "to wait".

Lisakhanya f & m Xhosa, Zulu
Means "still shining" in Xhosa and Zulu, from the roots sa "still, continuing" and khanya "to shine".

Lubanzi m & f Xhosa, Zulu
Means "it is wide" in Xhosa and Zulu, from the phrase uthando lubanzi "love is wide".

Lungile f & m Zulu, Ndebele
Means "correct, right, good" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Lwandle m & f Zulu, Xhosa
Means "ocean" in Zulu and Xhosa.

Mandla m Zulu, Ndebele
Means "strength, power" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Mandlenkosi m Zulu, Ndebele
From Zulu and Ndebele amandla "strength, power" and inkosi "king, chief".

Marietjie f Afrikaans
Afrikaans diminutive of Maria.

Mbalenhle f Zulu
From Zulu imbali "flower" and hle "beautiful".

Mbali f Zulu
Means "flower" in Zulu.

Melisizwe m Xhosa
Means "leader of the nation" in Xhosa.

Melokuhle f & m Xhosa, Zulu
Means "stand for goodness" in Zulu and Xhosa, from the roots mela "to stand for, to represent" and hle "beautiful, good".

Minenhle f & m Zulu
From Zulu imini "day" and hle "beautiful".

Mpho m & f Tswana, Sotho
Means "gift" in Tswana and Sotho, a derivative of fa "to offer".

Nkazimulo m & f Zulu
Means "glory, brightness" in Zulu.

Nkosana m Xhosa
Means "prince" in Xhosa.

Nkosazana f Xhosa
Means "princess" in Xhosa.

Nolene f Afrikaans
Elaborated form of Nola, most commonly found in South Africa.

Nomusa f Ndebele
Means "merciful" in Ndebele.

Nonhle f Xhosa
From the Xhosa feminine prefix no- combined with hle "beautiful".

Nontle f Xhosa
Variant of Nonhle.

Nosipho f Zulu, Xhosa
From the Zulu and Xhosa feminine prefix no- combined with isipho "gift".

Nosizwe f Xhosa
From the Xhosa feminine prefix no- combined with isizwe "nation".

Noxolo f Xhosa, Ndebele
From the Xhosa and Ndebele feminine prefix no- combined with uxolo "peace".

Nqobile f & m Zulu
Means "they conquered" in Zulu, from nqoba "to conquer".

Ntombi f Zulu
Means "girl" in Zulu.

Ntombifuthi f Zulu
Means "a girl again" in Zulu.

Ntombizodwa f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "only girls", from Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele intombi "girl" and zodwa "only".

Okuhle f & m Zulu, Xhosa
Means "that which is beautiful, that which is good" in Zulu and Xhosa.

Omphile f & m Tswana, Sotho
Means "he has given" in Tswana and Sotho.

Onalerona f & m Tswana, Sotho
Means "he is with us" in Tswana and Sotho.

Palesa f Sotho
Means "flower" in Sotho.

Puleng f Sotho
Means "in the rain" in Sotho.

Retha f Afrikaans, English
Short form of Margaretha.

Rethabile f & m Sotho
Means "we are happy" in Sotho.

Sandile m Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "we increased" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele, from anda "to increase".

Sibonakaliso m & f Zulu
From Zulu isibonakaliso meaning "sign, token, proof".

Sibongile f Zulu, Ndebele
Means "we are thankful" in Zulu and Ndebele, from bonga "to thank".

Sibusisiwe f Ndebele
Means "we are blessed" in Ndebele.

Sibusiso m Zulu, Swazi, Ndebele
Means "blessed" in Zulu, Swazi and Ndebele, from busisa "to bless".

Sifiso m Zulu
Means "wish" in Zulu.

Sipho m Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "gift" from Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele isipho.

Siphosethu m & f Zulu, Xhosa
Means "our gift" in Zulu and Xhosa.

Sithembile f & m Zulu
Means "we trust" in Zulu.

Siyabonga m Zulu, Ndebele
Means "we thank you" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Sizwe m Xhosa
Means "nation" in Xhosa.

Tau m Tswana, Sotho
Means "lion" in Tswana and Sotho. Tau was the name of the last ruler of the Rolong in South Africa (18th century).

Teboho m Sotho
Means "gratitude" in Sotho.

Thabani m Zulu, Ndebele
Means "be happy" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Thabo m Sotho, Tswana
Means "joy, happiness" in Sotho and Tswana.

Thandeka f Zulu, Ndebele
Means "loved" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Thandi f Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele
Short form of Thandiwe.

Thandiwe f Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele
Means "loving one" in Xhosa, Zulu and Ndebele, from thanda "to love".

Thando m & f Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele
From Xhosa, Zulu and Ndebele thanda meaning "to love".

Thato m & f Sotho, Tswana
Means "will, desire" in Sotho and Tswana.

Themba m Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "trust, hope" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele.

Thulani m Zulu
Means "be quiet, be peaceful" in Zulu.

Thulile f Zulu
Means "quiet, peaceful" in Zulu.

Tjaart m Afrikaans
Afrikaans form of Tjaard.

Tshepo m & f Sotho, Tswana
Means "hope" in Sotho and Tswana.

Tumelo m & f Sotho, Tswana
Means "faith" in Sotho and Tswana.

Unathi m & f Xhosa
Means "he or she is with us" in Xhosa, from the prefix u- meaning "he, she" and nathi meaning "with us".

Xolani m Zulu
Means "peace" in Zulu.

Zanokuhle f & m Xhosa, Zulu
Means "come with goodness" in Zulu and Xhosa, from the roots za "to come, to approach" and hle "beautiful, good".

Zodwa f Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Short form of Ntombizodwa.

Zola 2 f & m Xhosa
From the Xhosa root -zola meaning "calm".

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